Projects

The items in the storeroom have been donated from people in the community and purchased with monetary donations.

The Storeroom is arranged like a “store,” not a storage unit, so that the client has a shopping experience in a neatly arranged and clean environment. Items are kept in see-through bins and on shelves, rather than in plastic bags and paper boxes haphazardly placed around the room.

The Storeroom is a productive way to help victims work toward a violence-free life, by providing these items for free and enabling them to save their money for rent, utilities, etc. Clients must make an appointment with an advocate to use the Storeroom.

Donations for the Storeroom are gratefully accepted. Please see the Wish List in the Getting Involved section.

The national Clothesline Project started with thirty-one t-shirts hung in Hyannis, Massachusetts in the fall of 1990. Since that time, projects have begun in communities all across the U.S. and in other countries as well.

The Clothesline Project is a visual display that bears witness to violence against women. During a public display, a clothesline is hung with t-shirts. Each t-shirt within the display has been decorated to represent a particular woman’s experience and has been designed by the survivor herself or by someone who cares about her.

All shirts decorated and donated to the Wood County project stay in Wood County for displays around the area. The shirts are considered “works of art” and are always displayed by following established security protocols.

The purpose of The Clothesline Project is four-fold:

1. To bear witness to the survivors as well as the victims of the war against women.
2. To help with the healing process for people who have lost a loved one or are survivors of this violence.
3. To educate, document, and raise society’s awareness of the extent of the problem of violence against women.
4. To provide a network of support, encouragement, and information for communities displaying The Clothesline Project.

Creating a t-shirt for The Project

The t-shirts in the collection follow the color code below:

RED, PINK, or ORANGE: For women who have been sexually assaulted (including rape, sexual battery, gross sexual imposition, sexual imposition) or sexually harassed. Any type of non-consensual sexual activity constitutes a sexual assault.

YELLOW or BEIGE: For women who have been battered/physically assaulted in a domestic/dating violence situation. Domestic Violence also includes verbal, mental, and emotional abuse, as well as sexual abuse by a partner.

BLUE or GREEN: For women who were sexually abused as children.

WHITE: For women who have died of violence.

PURPLE/LAVENDER: For women attacked because of their sexual orientation.

For Women Killed: Friends or family may want to submit a decorated shirt that belonged to the victim. Many people choose to indicate that woman’s name, date of birth and death, hometown, as well as other information about her life.

Names: Naming the perpetrator is an important part of the healing process but, for legal reasons, shirts with the full names of perpetrators cannot be displayed. Please use first names only or initials of the perpetrator.

Please call the Victims Services Program Manager, Julie Broadwell at (419) 352-5387 if you would like to:

• Borrow part of the collection for a display (this can range from as few as 15 shirts up to 500)
• Decorate a shirt to add to the project
• Donate supplies so that someone else can make a shirt

There is no fee to host a display of The Clothesline Project. Supplies to decorate a shirt are provided free-of-charge by Victims Services.

Donations to The Clothesline Project, however small, are greatly appreciated. See Getting Involved. In particular, the Project can always use solid-colored t-shirts without any lettering or designs, and art supplies. Monetary contributions are also accepted.

When special events are held, such as The Vagina Monologues, victims of violence can be overwhelmed with emotions and may re-experience trauma. Victims Services provides volunteer advocates to staff Safe Rooms, a private space at which people can speak with an advocate about how they are feeling. The Safe Rooms are very important as the advocate can talk with the survivor through these emotions and provide support and crisis intervention.

Safe Room services are free. If a community or campus organization would like to have Victims Services advocates available at a presentation, contact the Program Coordinator, Kathy Mull, at (419) 352-5387, at least 2 weeks in advance of the event.

The shows consisted of art work by survivors depicting domestic violence, sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse, homicide and stalking. Any medium of art was appropriate and over the years included paintings, pictures, sculptures, lace work, collages, journals, poetry, and papers. The artists expressed appreciation for being able to share their experiences in a safe, welcoming arena.

Over 60 pieces were donated to Victims Services after the shows by the artists and have been used in a variety of venues since.

The first year, the Art Show was held in a Behavioral Connections building where Victims Services was housed, and over 50 people came to view the art. The following year, in 2008, the show was moved to the Wood County District Public Library and 120 people were in attendance. At the third show, also held at the library but this time scheduled in conjunction with Bowling Green’s ArtWalk, over 250 people paid tribute to the artists through their attendance.

The Victims Services staff have taken a break from producing the show in order to keep the event “fresh.” In subsequent years, an art show might be re-staged. If you are an artist and a survivor of a crime, and are interested in learning more, please contact the Program Manager, Julie Broadwell, at (419) 352-5387.

The phones have been donated by community members and come in a variety of styles. These phones are not hooked up to a service provider, but 911 can be reached. If you need a 911 phone, contact the on-call advocate by calling The Link at (419) 352-1545 and asking for Victims Services.

The Leader Voicemail Program was a free service which allowed clients without personal telephone and messaging services to receive voice messages. The company providing this service discontinued it in Jan. 2011. With Leader Voicemail, the clients were able to safely receive messages from attorneys, employers, advocates, family, etc., stored in a remote box away from the client’s phone, to insure confidentiality from the abuser.

“The Den” houses donated blankets, quilts, and comforters and are given free to women and their children. “The Hive” houses items to assist women when they have a temporary (1-3 nights) stay in a hotel, while waiting for shelter. These items can only be accessed if the woman in need of shelter is working with an advocate from Victims Services or The Cocoon. “The Nest” houses items from the Storeroom that are given out on an emergency basis.

If you are in need of any of these items, please contact The Link at (419) 352-1545 and ask for Victims Services.